Salt Lake County Citizen Service Award includes locals

The Salt Lake/Carbon County Cadaver Dog Team consists of nine dog handler teams. Seven of these teams are civilian handlers: Tina Hedricks, Jennifer Lopez, Brenda Mehl, Misty Atkinson, Mona Dean McGinnis, Janarie Cammans, Bret Cammans and their K-9 partners. During 2009, these individuals responded to 17 individual calls for service, with many of these searches lasting several days. The team traveled to Moab to search the Book Cliffs area for victims of a serial killer from Colorado. They spent several days in Salt Lake City searching for a young man who fell into the Jordan River canal. The team responded to Arizona to assist the FBI. They also traveled to Logan to work hand in hand with fire personnel and FEMA in searching for a family killed in a mudslide. These dedicated volunteers are passionate about working with their dogs and trying to bring lost loved ones home to their families. The volunteers on this team do not receive any funding and often pay their own way to respond to requests for searches. Hedricks and K9 Thumper, Lopez and K9 Ni'Jon, Mehl and K9 Abbie, Atkinson and K9 Sunny, McGinnis and K9 Goofy, Janarie Cammans and K9 Callie and Bret Cammans and K9 Tank were awarded the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office Citizen Service Award for their selfless dedication on May 11.